The Awakening
by YueChama
Summary: Two years after the war, Orihime wonders what Uliquorra ment by his last words.
1. Chapter 1

Orihime stared up at the ceiling of her living room. She was laying down on her couch. Hands clasped together beneath her breasts. Red hair splayed across the cream throw pillows. Creating a bloody halo around her head. Grey eyes vacant as memories of battles past replayed in her mind on repeat. Never ending. The screams of the dying and the wounded haunt her nightmares. Insane laughter of ones gone mad. The glint in the eyes of the truly drunk with battle lust. Orihime shuddered.

She closed her eyes. Bone desert and an endless black sky with a lonely crescent moon greeted her. Withered trees, cracked and burnt, dotted the empty landscape. Pristine ivory pillars held up the unnatural sky from falling of the desert inhabitants below. A man with death pale skin and eyes of emerald. Murcielago sheathed at his hip. Ulquiorra.

Orihime opened her eyes. Ulquiorra's last words haunted her constantly.

" _I see… so this is the heart... Just when I finally took an interest in you humans... Are you afraid Woman? "_

Orihime ground her teeth together in frustration. Her breath left her lungs with a huff, rolling over on her side to face the t.v. The news anchor droning on about Arial disturbances. Oh well, it doesn't matter. Uliquorra died two years ago. Her heart still hurt.

Orihime tapped her pen against her notebook as she watched Ichigo sprint out the school gates, his zanpakuto thumping against his back as he ran off to hunt another hollow. After they returned from Hueco Mundo, Ichigo made it clear to her that he did not want her involved in the Soul Society any longer. He didn't want her to be held hostage and put in danger again. A pit dropped in her stomach when he said those words. She was considered useless. Only good enough to heal wounds.

Orihime didn't love Ichigo anymore. In fact, she gave up on her feelings ever being returned in full when they rescued Rukia from the Soul Society's execution block. The look on Ichigo's face when he learned that Rukia was going to die told her everything. He never looked at her like that. Orihime didn't regret not kissing Ichigo the night Uliquorra came to take her away. It made her realize that she no longer loved him. Ichigo and Rukia made a cute couple anyway. Even if they didn't know it yet.

When Ichigo disappeared from sight, Orihime turned back to the trigonometry lesson. The teacher droning on and on about complex formulas that Orihime had no interest in learning. The shapes drawn on the board blurring as she squinted at the math. Attempting to make sense of it. Giving up, her mind wandered back to Uliquorra.

With her pen still in hand she began to draw a large gothic fourall over her trigonometry notebook. Black ink slowly filling in the outline of the four, adding delicate curls to the end. Uliquorra, she decided, was quite handsome. For a hollow of course. Flustered, she started pressing deeper into the paper, nearly causing a tear. Tatsuki turned around in her chair to face Orihime, giving her friend an inquiring look, taking in her flushed cheeks. Orihime shook her head and looked pointedly at the board. Tatsuki rolled her eyes and turned to face the board. Orihime took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

Well it's not like he knew what love or affection was anyway, he's a nihilist after all….. Her train of thought froze, but…. But… before he died, didn't he call his hand his heart? Her eyes widened, mouth opened slightly at her own realization. Did Uliquorra….. Did she… give the most powerful espada a heart?


	2. Chapter 2

Orihime trudged home. Her feet scraping against the sidewalk. Cold autumn wind whipped her hair into a furious dance in the wind, the ends of the striped scarf following the same steps of the dance as the strands of hair. Her eyes vacant as her mind lay elsewhere. Uliquorra. Did the espada truly learn to love? Or was she twisting the meaning of Uliquorra's last words into something she could deal with?

With a sigh, Orihime stared in to the clouds above. They where a storm grey. Swollen with unspilt rain, ready to dump the water on to the people below. Wind blew Orihime's hair around. Tangling it into knots that would take several hours to undo. She took a deep breath. The cold air freeing Orihime of her thoughts.

After all, it didn't truly matter what Uliquorra meant. He was dead. And took his "heart" with him.

Satisfied with her conclusion, Orihime continued to walk back to her apartment. Thunder grumbled ominously in the distance.

* * *

Orihime lay sprawled out on her couch. Randomly flipping channels on her t.v. attempting to starve off her boredom. Rain pounded on her window. As she grew tired of the nonsensical dramas and depressing news channels, Orihime's thoughts returned to a certain dead espada.

The longer she thought about Uliquorra's death, the longer something bothered her about it. Something didn't seem right. Something that Uliquorra said before he faded into ash. Orihime closed her eyes, furrowed her brows, and the corners of her mouth dropped down into a frown as she struggled to recall a distant memory.

* * *

 _Uliquorra stood in front of her. The tips of his wings disintegrating into fine black dust. His left horn broken off from the base lay on the ground next to him. His eyes boring into Orihime's. Orihime found herself unable to look away from the broken espada._

 _Next to Orihime was Ichigo. Who was visibly shaking at the sight of the damaged he caused to his opponent, brown eyes wide with disbelieve. His hollow never took control like that before. He shuddered. Ichigo lifted his head to face Uliquorra._

 _Uliquora looked at his hand. Noting that the tips of his black fingernails where turning to dust as well. He never thought that shinigami trash would be able to kill him. Complete regeneration might take months, even years, if at all. He glanced at the shinigami trash at the corner of his eye. This trash might even be able to kill Aizen-sama. He rather die than be disgraced and killed by an shinigami later._

" _why won't you strike the final blow, shinigami?"_

 _Startled at the voice, Ichigo shook his head._

" _N-no."_

" _No?"_

" _I-I wont!" Ichigo's voice growing stronger, "I didn't want to win this way."_

" _It'll never be over if you don't-"_

* * *

Orihime's eyes flew open. Her heart pounding in her chest. Eyes darted around the room as if confirming her location. She was still laying on her couch in the middle of her living room. Red locks splayed on the pillow. The newscaster still blaring on the television. Relieved, she took a deep breath and felt herself relax. Orihime had fallen asleep when she was trying to remember Uliquorra's death. The repressed memory flew to the surface of her conciseness as she dozed.

Orihime rolled of the couch and walked to her kitchen. Her nerves where still jittery from the memory and she was craving cinnamon peppermint tea. She placed her red kettle under the tap, and filled it with water. After placing the kettle on the burner, she leaned against the countertop. The plastic edge digging into her spine. Something that Uliquorra said raised red flags.

" _It'll never be over if you don't-"_

Orihime tried to finish the broken sentence. Don't kill me? Is that what said? Orihime cursed whatever woke her from the memory. Desperately wanting to know what Uliquorra was saying. Her mind went over the sentence once more.

" _It'll never be over if you don't-"_

Why wouldn't it be over? What couldn't be more "over" than death? Orihime opened a cabinet to get a mug for her tea. She set the mug on the counter. There was only one other possibility. Orihime shook her head in frustration. No, it's impossible. A wild desperate hope sprung in her chest.

Orihime brought her fingers to her lips and acknowledged her irrational hope out loud.

"Unless…. Unless Uliquorra wasn't dead…. After all…."

The kettle let out a piercing shriek.


	3. Chapter 3

Orihime sat in the sitting area behind the store front at Urahara's shop. The tatami floor creaked as she shifted her weight, knees cramping up in the formal siting position she was in. Hands clenched her brightly floral patterned skirt as she waited for Urahara to come back with tea. Urahara entered the room humming a upbeat tune, holding a small platter with the tea. Urahara placed the platter on the table and plopped onto the cushion across from Orihime.

"Sorry I took so long. Jinta just wouldn't shut up." Urahara grinned, "Now, what can I do for you Ms. Orihime?"

Orihime took a deep breath, she forcefully unclenched her hands from her skirt and smoothed out the wrinkles. She placed her hand around the clay tea cup, absorbing the heat radiating from the tea. She lifted her head to meet Urahara's eyes, steely brown eyes stared back. Not breaking eye contact she began to speak.

"How exactly…. Do shinigami kill Hollows Mr. Urahara? What happens to Hollows after a shinigami kills one? " Orihime's voice trailing off in the face of Urahara's unyielding stare in the second question.

Urahara's eyes widened, finally breaking eye contact, out of all the things that Orihime came to him about, this one he did not expect. Why on earth was she asking him this now? Shouldn't Orihime asked him this when she was actively hunting Hollows two years ago? He took a sip of his tea, mulling over Orihime's question.

"Well, after a shinigami kills a Hollow, the soul is cleansed of all the sins that were done as a Hollow and sent to the Soul Society if they never did something unforgivable while alive. For example," Urahara leaned back from the table, the new angle making it impossible for Orihime to see his expression. "Your brother didn't go to Hell for trying to kill you."

Orihime took in a sharp breath, her heart aching. Hands clenching the tea cup in a vice grip. Her eyes never left Urahara's face, attempting to read his expression.

"I-I see. And what if the Hollow wasn't killed by a zanpakuto. Hypothetically."

"Well… that would mean that the Hollow never died, and is just bidding time. Regenerating if possible, if not, other Hallows would eat it. Hypothetically of course. Why do you ask Ms. Orihime?"

"N-no reason. Just curious." Orihime smiled brightly at the man. "Thank you for seeing me today."

Orihime jumped up from her cushion, jolting the low table nearly upsetting the half empty cups of tea. She bounded for the sliding door.

"Say hi for Ms. Yourichi for me." Orihime said as she reached for her shoes.

"I'll walk you out."

"No need!"

Orihime sprinted out of the shop. Leaving a slightly confused Urahara behind her.

* * *

A black cat slinked around Urahara's legs as he watched Orihime run home. His hand raped around the top of his cane.

"Ms. Orihime says hi Yourichi."

A very naked woman draped her arm around Urahara's shoulders, and rested her head on his back. Her golden eyes staring off into the distance.

"She's hiding something."

"I know."

"I don't like it."

"I know."

The woman peered over Urahara's shoulder to watch Orihime's fading figure in the distance.

* * *

The hard wood of Orihime's front door dug into her back. Sweat dripped from her hairline onto the floor, hands shaking as she locked the door behind her. There was no doubt in her mind now. Uliquorra was alive. Ichigo never delivered the final blow. Uliquorra is still alive.

Orihime dropped her keys on the floor, hands still shaking. She bent down to reach the keys. Something dripped on the ground. She reached toward her face, huge tears rolled down her face. Covering her eyes, she let out a sob.


End file.
